THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Theories of Development Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives SECOND EDITION RICHA R D PEET ELAINE HA R TWICK THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London © 2009 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peet, Richard. Theories of development : contentions, arguments, alternatives / Richard Peet, Elaine Hartwick. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60623-066-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-60623-065-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Economic development. 2. Dependency. 3. Capitalism. 4. Marxian economics. I. Title. HD75.P43 2009 338.9—dc21 2008050378 For our parents— Eileen Migala, Harold Wilfred Peet, Anna B. Hartwick, and John A. Hartwick And our children— James C. Peet, Lukas J. Klapatch, Eric R. Peet, and Anna E. Peet MY ANN A EL A IN E It was while sharing a quiet moment together, when my soft whispering to her was answered in return with a wondrous look and a low cooing sound as her small hand reached out to mine and her tiny fingers wrapped around my heart —ABH, August 2002 Preface This book began as a rewrite of Global Capitalism, published by Routledge in 1991, and then of Theories of Development, published by Guilford in 1999. But it has become far more than both. Indeed, the final product contains only a few paragraphs entirely intact from the earlier works. This latest version is far more a critical survey of the main theories of development and includes more of the controversies over this vital area of knowledge. We wrote this book during a period of trans- formation in the global economy, a period when the new international division of labor entered a middle-age crisis, when the certainties of the past 40 years were increasingly viewed as precarious, when the global economy entered financial crisis. During this time, the need for funda- mental understanding, for reexamining the great attitudinal paradigms of development, took on new significance.T his lent our work an urgency that, we hope, spills onto its pages, imparting to the contents some sem- blance, at least, of the somberness we felt in composing our words. The book results from long collaboration between what is now a wife-and-husband partnership. Specifically,E laine wrote most of Chapter 7, while Richard wrote most of the rest. More generally, the book results from many conversations and collaborations stretching over spaces and times scattered across the past 45 years of our friendship. Yet, authorship should actually include many others, for—as quickly becomes evident— we draw on the works of dozens of writers in presenting anew the fin- est ideas in the field of development, spanning more than two centuries, from Adam Smith, through Karl Marx, to the contemporary feminist and poststructural thinkers. Most of the ideas that appear in this volume belonged originally to others, and we take responsibility only for the way they are presented in this instance. vii viii Preface Even so, we have not taken a passive attitude toward these ideas, content merely to present them accurately. Instead, each chapter contains a critique, some of which (especially in Part I) even undercut the very foundations on which the key ideas rest. Is this because we feel criticism to be the highest form of appreciation? Or, rather, does it result from a more pragmatic political conclusion that rethinking the essentials of development theory might ultimately result in replacing it with some- thing better? We can only say that our intention has been to survey the past in order to stimulate a new discourse about development, and this approach not only entails negative criticisms but also aims at positive reconstruction. Both of us have taught courses using the book as the key source mate- rial several times. Indeed, as we wrote the new edition, memories of past conversations with our students colored our perceptions. Elaine would like to thank the students at SUNY Albany, Mount Holyoke College, the University of Southern Maine, Central Connecticut State College, Clark University, Keene State College, and, most recently, Framingham State College who participated in her courses dealing with many of the issues in this book. Richard would like to thank his students in Global Society, Political Economy of Development, and Development Policy at Clark University, but also participants in courses taught at the University of Iowa, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Guilford Press had an earlier draft read by several reviewers, and their comments proved useful in making revisions. Waquar Ahmed redrew the figures, and we thank him for his generous help. Our book is dedicated to our parents directly, for making our ideas possible, but also to all working-class people indirectly, for their hard labor that makes existence possible. This edition is also dedicated to our kids—for deepening our joyous lives and for all the great times we have together in the house, in the yard, on the beach, at the river. As Marx observed some 150 years ago: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” RICHARD PEET ELAINE HARTWICK Contents Chapter 1 Development 1 The Geography of Development, 4 Measuring Growth and Development, 6 Criticisms of Development Measures, 10 The Face of Poverty, 12 Contentions over Development, 13 PART I. CONVENTIONAL THEORIES 21 OF DEVELOPMENT Chapter 2 Classical and Neoclassical Economics 23 Enlightenment Origins of Political Economy, 24 The British Enlightenment, 26 The Classical Economists, 29 Adam Smith: Beginnings, 30 Utilitarianism, 33 Ricardian Calculations, 35 Mill’s Ethical Economics, 37 List’s Skepticism, 40 Critique of Classical Economics, 41 Neoclassical Economics, 45 Critique of Neoclassical Economics, 48 Chapter 3 From Keynesian Economics to Neoliberalism 53 Dynamic Analysis, 53 Keynesian Economics, 56 ix x Contents Keynesianism and Social Democracy, 57 The Developmental State, 63 Structuralism and Import Substitution, 64 Development Economics: Balanced and Unbalanced Growth, 68 The Counterrevolution in Development Economics, 74 Crisis in Keynesian Economics, 76 Neoliberalism, 78 Neoliberalism in Economic Policy, 84 World Bank Policy, 87 Benevolent Consensus, 91 Millennium Development Goals, 94 Debt Relief, 97 Critique of Neoliberal Development, 98 Chapter 4 Development as Modernization 103 Naturalism, 104 Rationalism, 107 Civilized Development, 110 Structural Functionalism, 113 The Parsonian Synthesis, 116 Critique of Structural Functionalism, 119 Sociological Modernization Theory, 121 Economic Modernization Theory, 123 Psychocultural Theories of Modernization, 124 Historical Stages of Growth, 126 Modernization Surfaces, 129 Critique of the Modernization Approach, 131 Return of Modernization, 134 Critique of Sachs, 137 Critique of Modernization, 139 PART II. NONCONVENTIONAL, CRITICAL 141 THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Chapter 5 Marxism, Socialism, and Development 143 Idealism and Materialism, 143 Dialectics, 146 Production as the Transformation of Nature, 147 Production as Social Relations, 148 Capital, 149 Mode of Production, 154 Contents xi Development as Social Transformation, 156 Structural Marxism, 159 Imperialism, 161 Dependency Theory, 166 World Systems Theory, 172 Regulation Theory, 175 Criticisms of Marxist and Neo-Marxist Theories, 181 Socialist Development in the USSR, 186 Cuba, 189 Venezuela, 192 Conclusion: Development in Contention, 195 Chapter 6 Poststructuralism, Postcolonialism, 197 and Postdevelopmentalism The Enlightenment and Its Critics, 199 Post-Enlightenment Criticisms, 202 Power–Truth–Knowledge, 204 Postcolonialism, 208 Intellectual Dependency Theory, 212 Rethinking Development, 214 The Poststructural Turn in Development Studies, 218 Encountering Development, 221 Postdevelopmentalism, 227 Conclusion: Countercritique, 230 Chapter 7 Feminist Theories of Development 240 Feminist Epistemology, 243 Feminist Criticisms of Development Theory, 250 Women, Development, Theory, 252 Women in Development, 254 Women and Development, 259 Gender and Development, 267 Women, Environment, and Development, 269 Postmodernism and Development, 271 Critique: A Failure of Nerve?, 272 PART III. CRITICAL MODERNISM 275 Chapter 8 Critical Modernism and Democratic Development 277 Alternatives, 278 Critical Modernism, 280 xii Contents Democratic Development, 282 Ethics, 285 Social Movements, 286 Linkages, 287 Radical Democracy, 288 References 292 Index 314 About the Authors 324 1 Development Development means making a better life for everyone. In the present context of a highly uneven world, a better life for most people means, essentially, meeting basic needs: sufficient food to maintain good health; a safe, healthy place in which to live; affordable services available to everyone; and being treated with dignity and respect. Beyond meeting these needs, basic to human survival, the course taken by development is subject to the material and cultural visions of different societies.